


Look At You Now

by tomkitty



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Liam Zayn and Niall are only mentioned really, M/M, Time Travel AU, no smut sorry, they have very little speaking bits here, x factor era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 04:50:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8236660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomkitty/pseuds/tomkitty
Summary: 2010!Louis travels to the future and meets 2016!Harry





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a prompt that alivingfire wrote in the tags of [ this post](http://alivingfire.tumblr.com/post/151499481881):
> 
> okay I know I have proposed enough fics for a lifetime but who's gonna write the time travel au where little 18 year old louis is flung forward in time for some reason and sees what harry is going to look like someday and what a big deal he is and then louis goes back to 2010 with the undeniable knowledge that he will do whatever it takes to give harry that future (and y'know there's the part where it's 2016 and louis realizes exactly what night he was once transported to and when harry comes home from the party louis gets him off while telling him that he's so beautiful he literally changed the course of louis' life)
> 
> I saw it and had to write it, well part of it. It's only short and I didn't included the 2016 jump part because I can't write smut very well. This is unbeta-ed so any and all mistakes are my own.

“Yes! We completely smashed it!” 

“We really did so well this time lads.”

“Another week and we’re still in the competition I can’t believe this.”

“Someone pinch me I must be dreaming. Ow! I didn’t mean that literally Louis.”

“Don’t make statements unless you want them to be followed through on young Niall.”

Louis really couldn’t believe it though. Another week on the X Factor and they were still safe. Still though, they couldn’t back down now. With so little people left in the competition they were really going to have to go above and beyond to stay in the game with next week’s song challenge. 

\-- 

“No, Louis you’re still a little bit off key there. Here, let me play it on the piano one more ti-”

“I know what the note is supposed to sound like Liam!”

“Well, maybe but we need to get this right. It’s important for us to practice this as much as possible so-”

“Yes, Liam I know! So that we can keep going on in this competition. Do you think I’m stupid or something? I know I’m the worst singer out of all of us but just because my voice doesn't work doesn't mean that my brain is the same way! You don’t have to keep repeating yourself every single time I make a mistake. I know okay?!” Louis exploded suddenly and, shit. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He didn’t need them looking at him like, like that. As if they pitied him or something. He knew he wasn’t the best singer. It was why he had to keep going in for extra vocal lessons and why thus far he was only ever really given the background vocal parts. In his head he knew it, but it was another thing entirely to actually say it out loud.

“Louis, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-” Liam started to say but Louis cut him off before he could go any further.

“I need some air.” And with that he walked right past Liam and out the door. He made his way outside and glanced at the sky; it was getting dark already, had they really been practicing for that long? They were probably going to have to leave the studio soon and make their way back to the house. Oh well, he could spare a few minutes outside to simmer down a bit before going back in and, inevitably, apologizing for his outburst. It was chilly out and he watched as he could see his breath form out in front of him as he sighed and leaned against the wall.

He knew he shouldn’t have yelled at Liam like that. Liam just wants them to win and do their best after all and sometimes he gets to be a bit much but really, Louis can’t blame him for that. It must be tough having to go from being a potential solo artist to suddenly being in a band. Louis definitely was having a hard time with it at first but he soon got used to it, working with the boys so that they’d sound their best. It was just today, Louis was having a harder time than usual.

He sighed again and pushed himself off the wall; he had sulked enough and the other boys would be coming after him soon enough. He made his way back to the entrance of the studio and turned the corner only to find himself hitting a wall of people with cameras.

Shit. The paps couldn’t be here already could they? It’s way too early. And since when were they allowed this close to the studio? Louis tried to look for a way around them only to find there wasn’t one. They were completely blocking his path. There were a bunch of fans gathered next to all the paparazzi as well, all armed with what looked like iPhones. He turned around, fully intending to run and make his way to a side entrance when he realized he was definitely not in front of the X Factor Studio. Where the hell was he? How did he even get here?

Wherever he was, there were paps gathered waiting for someone and it seems like the fans weren’t being turned away so while he was here Louis figured he might as well stick around and see who they were all waiting for. Maybe he'd get a glimpse of someone famous. Priorities right? He pushed his way to the front of the crowd and looked around a bit more. It seemed to be a really important event. Whoever this was for must be a big deal. It was then that a car pulled up and the cameras started going off from all directions. Louis watched as the door of the car opened and out stepped the most gorgeous man he has ever seen in his life. He was tall, broad, had gorgeous brown locks, was dressed in a black suit that looked tailored to perfection and was that, velvet black boots? This guy must really be a big deal. Louis couldn’t place him though. He definitely looked familiar though. 

“Harry! Harry over here!” 

“Harry!” 

Wait, this guys name was Harry? Well, what were the odds of that. Louis looked at the man again as he shut the door of his car and began making his way forward. Louis leaned over a bit to get a better view when suddenly he felt a shove from behind him and found himself sprawled out face down onto the pavement, the palms of his hands now scratched up from trying and failing to catch himself.

“Oh fookin’ hell!” he shouted, gearing up to fight whoever pushed him only to find himself being helped to sit up by someone with large hands. 

“You alright there mate?” the man, whose name must be Harry, asked him from where he was crouched beside him.

Louis looked up at him, Harry, and was about to reply that he was fine when he looked into his eyes; those beautiful green eyes that he would know anywhere. “Harry?” 

The man looked confused for a moment before his eyes got impossibly wide. “Louis?” he asked in disbelief.

“How-?” 

“Harry come on!” A female voice caught both their attention and Harry seemed to get back to himself, remembering where he was. He glanced at Louis once more, looking torn at what he should do, before he schooled his face and leaned forward a bit towards Louis. 

“Wait for me,” he said as he helped pull Louis to his feet and brushed off his shoulders.

“What?” Louis asked. 

Harry leaned in to hug him and said into his ear, “Meet me at the side of the building,” before pulling away and making his way up and towards the entrance.

Louis was in shock but he couldn’t ignore what just happened could he? He quickly made himself scarce and moved away from the crowd towards the side of the building. He peered down the side of the building, not quite sure if it was a good idea to go down there or not and decided to play it safe and linger near the edge of it at the corner. 

He needed to take a moment to process what just happened. That was Harry, that was HIS Harry. But, it also wasn’t. This Harry was so much taller and much more grown up than the baby faced Harry with the curls that he knew. But the eyes. Their eyes were the same. Louis would recognize Harry’s eyes anywhere. It had to be Harry. But what happened? The only explanation Louis could come up with was-

“Time travel.” 

“Ah! Geez don’t, do that! You startled me!” Louis said turning around to find Harry, not his Harry, but this grown up version of Harry, smiling at him.

“That’s the only explanation I can come up with. I mean, you look so young.”

“Oi, I’m older than you Harold don’t be rude.”

“In your time you might be, but here? Here I’m older than you.”

“Says who?”

“You’re what, 18 years old right now?” Harry looked him up and down, taking in his outfit and hairstyle. “Yeah, definitely 18 year old Louis. I’m 22 right now so, I’m older than you.”

“22? So that makes this when?” Louis quickly did the math in his head, “2016? I’m in 2016 right now? How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know. I never really had the chance to study the science of time travel between recording and touring and traveling the world” Harry says with a roll of his eyes.

Louis was about to comment on Harry’s sass when what he says really registers in his mind. Recording? Touring? Traveling the world? “Wait, so we make it then? We win the X Factor? We really make it as a band?”

Harry frowns slightly, realizing what he said, “I don’t know if I’m allowed to say…”

“Oh come on Haz, you already let it slip, might as well spill the rest!”

“But what if it creates a riff or tears a hole in the fabric of time and space and we all cease to exist!”

“Well, I’m already here aren’t I?” Louis points out. “And nothing bad has happened yet. Come on Haz please?”

“Okay well, yes and no.”

“What?”

“We don’t win the X Factor, we come in third, but we still get signed as a band and make it as you said.” Harry says slowly, contemplating what he should or shouldn’t reveal. “We’re pretty popular actually.”

“How popular?”

“Well, so far we’ve been on four tours and put out 5 albums.”

“No way! Have we-” Louis is cut off then as Harry’s phone starts to ring.

“Hold that thought, hello? Yes Glenne? I’m a little busy right now can it wait a bit? Okay, yeah I’ll be right there.” Harry sighs as he gets off the phone. “Sorry about that I have to go back in for a bit, I’m sort of supposed to be hosting this thing.”

“Really? What is it exactly?” Louis asks, impressed.

“It’s just a launch party for the magazine that I’m featured in. I’m kind of on the cover of it.”

Louis smiles fondly at Harry. He reaches up and pulls at his short hair, wear he can see the slight curl to it. “Still humble as ever I see. Nice to know that fame doesn’t get to your head after all this Curly.”

Harry smiles back at Louis, positively glowing under Louis’ attention, “You help keep me grounded.”

Harry’s phone beeps then; it’s a text from Glenne telling him to hurry back. “Wait here yeah? I’ll be back in a mo’.”

“Okay,” Louis says as Harry turns to head back inside. “Wait! What if I’m not here when you get back? What if whatever caused me time travel from my time to here happens again and I travel back?”

Harry turns back to face Louis, “Then, I guess I won’t be seeing you. Or, I will later. I’ll see you when I get home.”

“Okay, wait home?”

“Oops. Sorry, spoiler alert. You and I are living together.” Harry said, not looking the tiniest bit sorry.

Louis’ eyes widen for a moment before nodding his head in understanding. “Oh okay, well we’ve been talking about how we want to live together, eventually y’know. After the X Factor and everything. It’s good to know that we still do live together after 6 years. Good to know we don’t get tired of each other.”

“Never.” Harry says with a wide grin. His phone beeps again; another text from Glenne. “Okay, I’ll be back yeah? But if you’re not here then…”

“You’ll see me back home?” Louis says.

“Exactly.” And with that Harry gives Louis one last wave and disappears through a side door.

Louis turns around, moving to lean back against the wall to wait for Harry only to see that he is once again back at the X Factor Studios. For a moment Louis thinks he must have imagined the whole thing until he feels the slight sting on his palms and sees the scratches from when he fell earlier. 

It was real. The whole thing was real. They’re going to make it. They don’t win the X Factor sure but they still get signed. They release albums and go on tours and Harry, Harry grows up to be, well, completely wonderful. Harry is wonderful now of course but, that Harry, the Harry from the future, had a certain air about him. He seemed so much for confident and sure of himself. He was hosting a launch party for a magazine that he was featured on the cover for! That’s a really big deal! And Louis wants it. Louis wants it so badly. He wants to see Harry, his Harry, grow into the man that he had the pleasure of meeting just moments ago. He wants to give Harry all of that and more. Louis just has to make sure to do everything in his power to make that future happen. And he will. He’d do anything for Harry.

Louis heads back inside then. When he enters the room all four of the boys rush towards him and start talking at once.

“Louis I’m so sorry-”

“Are you alright Lou? I-”

“D’you need me to get you anything? Water or-”

“We were worried about you and-”

Louis holds his hand up, effectively silencing them in their slightly panicked state. He looks around at them all, Liam, Zayn, Niall, and finally Harry. His Harry. “Sorry about that lads, you know I can be the worst diva at times. And I’m especially sorry about yelling at you Liam. You didn’t deserve that.” Louis pulls Liam into a hug then, knowing the boy needed it, even if he didn’t voice it. “You know I didn’t mean it right? I wasn’t mad at you. I was just frustrated with myself. You didn’t do anything wrong okay?”

“But I-” Liam starts to say but Louis won’t have it.

“No buts Liam. You did absolutely nothing wrong.” Louis pulls back then so he can look Liam in the eyes. “Okay? I mean it now. So don’t you dare try to place any sort of blame on yourself for this. I won’t have it.” 

Louis turns toward all the other boys then, “I really was just frustrated you know. I knew the note and I just could not for the life of me figure out why I couldn’t get it, but I’m calmer now. I’m ready to try again if you all are.”

“You sure Louis?” Niall asks, “we can call it a night and just hang out for a bit until they tell us it’s time to head back to the house.”

“Yeah, we were talking about it when we were waiting for you,” Zayn chimed in. “It’s been a long and stressful day. We’d understand if taking a break was something that you wanted.”

Louis just smiled at them. He really did love them all. “Hm, a break would be a good idea, but, just to be safe let’s run through it again a few times yeah?”

The boys nod and start to head back over to the piano but not before Harry catches Louis’ arm and pulls him into a hug. “You’re amazing.”

“Oh now Harold,”

“No really. Just listen for a second yeah? You said you’re the worst singer but you’re not. Your voice is different from ours, but not in a bad way. It’s special, unique, it stands out. You have a rasp when you sing but your tone is also so gentle. When you sing I can feel, with every fiber of my being, just how much emotion you put into it. You can take the simplest of lines and phrases and pour so much expression into it that it takes on a new meaning. Not a lot of people can do that Lou. And then your sound. Your voice is so distinctive that even in a room full of people I’d be able to pick yours out and that’s special. Hearing your voice is like being wrapped up in a hug by your favorite person. It makes you feel warm, and safe, and loved. Without you, without your voice singing along with ours, we wouldn’t be the same. We wouldn’t be One Direction. When we tried to rehearse without you back at Judge’s Houses, we couldn’t. It didn’t sound right without your voice. We need you Louis. So don’t you ever, ever put your voice down like that ever again because I love that voice of yours so much.”

Louis lets out a shuddery breath then and pulls away to look at Harry. “You really mean all that?”

“Of course I do Lou,” Harry says wiping at Louis’ cheeks with the sleeves of his hoodie and oh, he didn’t even realize he had started crying. “Your voice is everything. You’re everything. You shine so bright Lou, and your voice is just one of the many things that I love about you.”

“I don’t know what to say Hazza,” Louis says as his heart just fills up with so much love for the boy standing in front of him. “Thank you. You don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that.”

“Of course Lou, you deserve to know how wonderful you are. How special you are.” Harry brushes his nose up against Louis’ then before pulling back with a wide smile on his face. “Now come on, I think we’ve made the boys wait long enough don’t you think?”

Louis just smiles back at Harry and grabs Harry’s hand to pull him towards where the other boys are waiting for them at the piano. Harry stops him for a moment though and looks at the scratches on his palms. “What happened to your hands?” Harry asks.

“It’s nothing I just fell.”

“You sure you’re alright? I can get your something for your hands or-”

“I’m sure. They’re fine. Everything will be alright. Don’t you worry Curly.”

And it will be. Louis will make sure of it. He’s going to work as hard as he can to give Harry the future that he got a glimpse of. A future that Harry deserves where Harry gets to have everything that he’s ever wanted in life. Louis would do anything for Harry after all; because Harry is Louis’ everything.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this wasn't that great. I don't know if it was clear or not but 2010 Harry and Louis are together in this fic. Also sorry if the characterization is off. I'm not the best writer.


End file.
